Apple introduces pencil thin iPad Mini to counter Amazon's Kindle Fire

Apple Inc will begin to sell an almost 8-inch version of the iPad on Friday to compete with Amazon.com Inc's Kindle and other smaller tablets, but it set a higher-than-expected price tag of $329 that Wall Street fears could curb demand.

The 7.9 inch "iPad mini" marks the iPhone-maker's first foray into the smaller-tablet segment. Apple hopes to beat back incursions onto its home turf of consumer electronics hardware, while safeguarding its lead in a larger tablet space - one that even deep-pocketed rivals like Samsung Electronics have found tough to penetrate.

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Priced at $329 for a wi-fi only model, the iPad mini is a little costlier than some predicted. Others fear the gadget will lure buyers away from Apple's $499 flagship 10-inch iPad, while proving ineffective in combating the threat of Amazon's $199 Kindle Fire and Google's Nexus 7, both of which are sold at or near cost.

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Microsoft Surface Tab to go sale October 26

Microsoft says its first tablet computer, the Surface , will start at $499 when it goes on sale October 26.

The price matches that of Apple Inc.'s iPad , the most popular tablet computer, but the base model of the Surface has twice as much storage memory: 32 gigabytes.

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The launch of the Surface is an unusual move for Microsoft, which usually sells software to computer makers instead of making computers itself. It coincides with the launch of Windows 8, a version of the operating system that's designed to work better on touch-screen computers and tablets.

Read more: Business Today

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Microsoft unveils Surface Windows 8 tablets

In our post on 16th June, quoting Daily Mail we announced that speculation was rising that Microsoft would formally introduce the Windows Tablet next Monday - with the tech giant holding a mysterious event in San Francisco.

Now that big announcement has come: Microsoft has unveiled Surface - its own-brand family of tablets.

The touchscreen computers will be powered by its upcoming Windows 8 system and contain a choice of an Intel or ARM-based processor.

It allows the firm to challenge Apple's bestselling iPad with a device that can run standard applications such as its own Office programs and Photoshop.

Read more: BBC News

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NOOK: E Ink With GlowLight

E Ink readers like the Kindle and the NOOK are great for reading in the sunshine, but when it gets dark out, you face a problem: You either have to attach a flashlight to the device or turn on a light in your home.

Nook with GlowLight (L) - Nook Simple version without GlowLight (R)

With its newest NOOK Simple Touch, which comes with an embedded technology called GlowLight, Barnes & Noble thinks it has eliminated that problem forever.

Announced on Thursday afternoon, the new device becomes the first E Ink reader whose screen is also backlit. Barnes & Noble representatives say that the new screen illumination technology, which can be toggled on and off, makes its new NOOK Simple Touch the only device with a screen that is really readable both in direct sunlight as well as in the dark.

Now, at a price point of $139, you're rubbing up against full-fledged tablet territory, and the NOOK Simple Touch is but a single-function e-reader without any apps or real web access. 

Read details: Huffington Post

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Toshiba Debuts Monstrous 13-Inch Tablet

The race for big and bigger tablets seems to have set into motion. After Apple and Samsung, now Toshiba is also in the race.

Toshiba is recently unveiled its 'monstrous' 13 inches tablet - so far the biggest in the market. Toshiba claims to give multiple users a better shared experience when watching videos or looking at photos.

The viewers, by virtue of the extra real estate, can see much more of any website on the screen when they view it on the Toshiba Excite 13. It is what they call just like reading a newspaper. And surely it does look like a newspaper being so big and clear.

Although with a bigger screen, the Toshiba Excite 13 is only about 0.4 inches thick and includes ports for micro USB and micro HDMI as well as an SD card slot.

Comparing it with other large sized smartphones and tablets, the Toshiba Excite really look like a monster - and holding the gadget in your hand, you would look like a Gulliver to the ordinary tablet holders - No? Just see the comparison:

Read more about Toshiba Excite: Mashable

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Dell sees room to challenge Apple in tablets

As Apple's third-generation iPad went on sale on Friday, accompanied by the now traditional scenes of fans queuing round the block , Dell's chief commercial officer Steve Felice said the tablet market was still wide open.

Dell ditched its previous attempt at cracking the global tablet market, the Streak, last year. It was based on Google's Android operating system software.

Now Dell is planning a fresh assault with the advent of Microsoft's new Windows 8 operating platform, which is expected later this year and will have a touch interface that works across desktop computers, tablets and smartphones.

Read more: Reuters

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Could dwindling supplies of a crucial component mark the beginning of the end for the tablet?

The new iPad launched yesterday amid its usual fanfare. But could dwindling supplies of a crucial component make such events a thing of the past?

The bleak future for tabs and all kinds of screens

But there is a problem looming on the horizon for fans of the latest tablet computers, not to mention smart phones and flat screen TVs.  Whether it is on the shiny new iPad, computer or phone, the chances are that you are reading this article through a screen laced with one of the rarest metals on Earth: indium. And analysts are warning that global supplies of indium could be exhausted as soon as 2017. So how will we live without the gadgets that we have come to depend on? 

Read details: BBC Future

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Dell plots late-2012 consumer tablet launch

[ via Reuters ] 10 Jan

Dell Inc intends to launch its first consumer tablet computer in late 2012, marking its entry into a hotly contested and increasingly crowded arena that has already claimed arch-foe Hewlett Packard.

While rivals from HP to Research in Motion introduced a spate of gadgets with much fanfare and went toe-to-toe with the still-dominant Apple Inc iPad, Dell kept a low profile with good reason, Dell chief commercial officer Steve Felice said.

"We have been taking our time. The general failure of everyone that's tried to introduce a tablet outside of Apple" suggested Dell made a prudent choice, Felice said in an interview. "You will see us enter this market in a bigger way toward the end of the year. So we are not really deemphasizing it, we are really being very careful how we enter it.

Read more: Reuters

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